


Trapped and Wild

by Kalira



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: F/M, Feral Behavior, Gen, Imprisonment, Open to Interpretation, Pre-Relationship, Restraints, Whumptober, Whumptober 2019, shackled
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-09
Updated: 2019-10-09
Packaged: 2020-11-28 17:15:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20970149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kalira/pseuds/Kalira
Summary: Captured by Naraku, Kagome is tipped into the depths of a dungeon where she comes face to face with a new side of an old foe.





	Trapped and Wild

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [Whumptober](https://whumptober2019.tumblr.com/post/187785964678/whumptober2019-october-approaches-and-so-does), Day 9: Shackled

“See, then, what the blood of the _great_ Ino no Taisho is capable of!” Naraku laughed and pushed her with one outstretched tentacle, and Kagome flailed as she tumbled into the dark, but her fear wasn’t for her landing or the dark closing around her as the doors slammed above, Naraku’s laughter following her down in chilling echoes.

_Inuyasha, how did he- I thought you were safe!_ Kagome thought, eyes burning with tears. She had held herself together knowing Inuyasha had got free, even if he had been howling with despair as Naraku carried her away. Kagome had held to that thought; Inuyasha’s safety, his _freedom_. Not in hopes that he would free her - though she knew he _would_ \- but in relief that he was away, that he was _safe_, even if she was not.

Kagome landed, finally, on something surprisingly soft. And warm. Kagome hadn’t been properly warm in over a week - not since Naraku had hauled her back to his shiro in the mountains. She shivered, unable to bring herself to pull away from it for a long moment, until she realised whatever it was - fur? - it was . . . moving?

Kagome stirred, beginning to sit up, then yelped as a sharp snarl cut the air. A _feral_, mindless snarl, deep and threatening. Kagome scrambled away from the fur, mourning the loss of its warmth but not foolish enough to remain near that sound.

She didn’t stop until she slammed into the wall and _could_ go no further, her eyes wide in the dark. It was _too_ dark, she couldn’t see anything, and there was nothing to hear save the low, threatening rumble of something wild and angry, and- and a dull scrape of metal against stone.

Kagome took a few deep breaths, steadying herself to call out to Inuyasha, even if- even if he wasn’t quite himself. She’d faced his demon side before and while doing it alone and in the dark - could Inuyasha _see_? she was never sure how sharp his senses _were_ \- was even more frightening-

“Enjoy, miko!”

Kagome looked up, blinded by the brightness of a lantern that dropped towards her in a rapid spiral. The doors high above closed again with a bang and the sound of metal on metal, and the lantern bounced with a sound of chains grinding and glass clattering, swinging wildly some distance above her head.

Kagome’s eyes stung, and she blinked away tears, trying to focus. White, red-

Kagome’s eyes widened and her breath caught painfully as she drove herself back against the wall even harder. Her heart pounded with fright. “Se- Sesshoumaru-sama?” she tried, voice thin and high.

Sesshoumaru’s blood-red eyes were fixed on her face, and his lips curled away from his teeth - his face was slightly pointed, drawing towards the suggestion of a muzzle, and his fangs were even bigger than usual, Kagome was sure - as he snarled louder again. His fingers flexed and his claws dug chips out of the stone floor, though he didn’t seem even to _notice_.

“Oh. Oh no.” Kagome said weakly.

Sesshoumaru threw himself towards her in a blindingly fast pounce, only to slam to a stop only about halfway across the space. It _felt_ entirely too close, still, but there was a good distance between them, Kagome just didn’t know why he hadn’t crossed it-

Her eyes darted down and back up, her breath catching in her chest as her heart pounded.

Metal scraped stone and Sesshoumaru snarled again, fighting the manacle locked around his slender wrist, clawing at the chain holding it and drawing his powerful body against the limits of the restraints. Kagome stared, shaking, but the chain was unmarred by his claws and neither the manacles nor the stone in which the chains were anchored gave under the force he was exerting.

Kagome had never seen Sesshoumaru like this, hadn’t- wouldn’t have thought Inuyasha’s cold, controlled half-brother _could_ fall into this state.

“Naraku.” Kagome breathed. He must have _done something_, though if he could induce this feral state in- in the most controlled _full_ youkai she knew of, then Inuyasha. . .

Sesshoumaru angled his head, one blood-red eye fixing on her through the fall of his wild silver hair. Kagome stifled a cry of surprised fright. Sesshoumaru shifted again, moving to the very furthest extent of the chains, but slowly, arm drawn behind himself as he came as near to her as he could.

Kagome swallowed nervously and didn’t move, reminding herself that he couldn’t reach her, _couldn’t_ come any closer.

Until Naraku decided to release the chains, Kagome thought with a hysterical laugh that she managed to keep mostly internal. Or loosen them - probably Naraku wasn’t stupid enough to loose Sesshoumaru again if he’d caught him, even in this state. Especially in this state, maybe.

Sesshoumaru tilted his head up and inhaled, his nose twitching. Kagome might have giggled if she weren’t so _freaked out_. She hadn’t realised Sesshoumaru could look quite so . . . doggish. Inuyasha’s nose twitched sometimes but. . . Well. It wasn’t only the ears that made Inuyasha look puppyish next to his half-brother.

Sesshoumaru settled back a little, eyes fixed on her as he folded his legs neatly, hand resting on the stone beside him, claws scratching into it absently. Even given all her experience with youkai focus, Kagome found the intent attention a little unnerving.

. . .Sesshoumaru’s feet were bare, Kagome saw with surprise as she inspected him to try and distract herself. There were pink stripes crossing over his ankles beneath the cuffs of his hakama, visible above and below the metal binding them, and his toes had little claws just like Inuyasha’s.

She supposed he wouldn’t think so - not that she would know - but somehow taking his boots seemed . . . worse than taking his armour. Why take his boots, after all, save to _take them_? To leave him barefoot and chained. . .

Stripped of most of his belongings - swords, armour, boots, even the outer layer of his kimono that bore his crest - senseless with feral rage, and chained up. All he needed, Kagome thought, suddenly offended and distressed on Sesshoumaru’s behalf rather than her own, was a muzzle to be fully treated like some sort of lesser, brainless creature.

“You shouldn’t be like this.” Kagome said quietly, not quite realising until she heard her own voice. Sesshoumaru’s head cocked in an abrupt little gesture, and he looked her in the eye. She tucked her legs up closer to herself, shivering against the stone. “It’s not right. To make you like this and trap you up and-” And strip away almost what he _was_, for while it was surely within him always, he was far more than this feral power.

Sesshoumaru’s gaze eventually flicked down from her own, then around the dungeon.

“What happened to you?” Kagome wondered aloud. His lip curled and his fingers flexed a little harder, but the most noticeable gesture, thanks to the long cascade of his silky hair, was the tiny tilt of his head. If he had puppy ears, Kagome thought suddenly, they would be fixed on her even when his eyes were not. “What did Naraku _do_ to you?”

Sesshoumaru growled, but not quite so fiercely this time. Kagome licked her lips and inched a fraction away from the wall; not nearly close enough to be within reach, but no longer pressing herself to the stone either.

“Sesshoumaru-sama?” Kagome said softly, as even and gentle as she could.

Sesshoumaru’s head tilted slightly, his eyes flicking to meet her own once more. Kagome didn’t fool herself that there was any recognition in them, or even any _sense_, properly. But the way he sat was not a threat, and the low growls he voiced didn’t . . . _feel_ like they were directed at her. Any longer. They _had_ been, for certain.

But . . . could he be blamed for reacting aggressively to Kagome suddenly falling into the space where he was already trapped and chained and-

Kagome’s eyes widened as she realised she must have landed _on_ him. He was the only thing in this dungeon that wasn’t stone or metal. Kagome covered her face with her hands as she squeaked, shaking.

She had _landed_ on Sesshoumaru when he was _feral_ and hardly seemed to have any-

Kagome stiffened, eyes wide as she slowly lowered her hands. Sesshoumaru was still looking at her, his head cocked to one side, his crimson eyes bright. She had _landed_ on Sesshoumaru and even though he was clearly furious and though he had snarled viciously, Kagome didn’t have so much as a scratch from _him_.

Sesshoumaru was _blindingly_ fast and Kagome had hardly been moving even _her_ fastest. He hadn’t tried to hurt her. Not even a warning, or a shove to push her away, get her _off him_. Kagome swallowed, eyeing him warily.

“Sesshoumaru-sama?” Kagome tried again, keeping her voice soft.

There was no recognition in his bright eyes, but he watched her closely. Kagome moved again, bringing her knees under her with a shiver, and Sesshoumaru’s nose twitched again. She wasn’t foolish enough to test her luck - or his patience - by coming within actual _reach_, but she made a point not to cower, moving a little nearer, claiming a little of the space in the dungeon herself rather than trying to disappear into the wall.

Sesshoumaru cocked his head slightly, watching her, his lips quirked. Kagome had no idea what it meant. Even if she had been in possession of the slightest idea how to read Sesshoumaru’s expressions to begin with the strange breadth of his fangs and the pointed shift of his face towards a muzzle would have made it impossible, she thought.

Watching his nose twitch, Kagome wondered if she - still - smelled like Inuyasha, knowing she did normally - like all of her friends, though particularly Inuyasha and Shippou. Shippou had told her so, explaining about scents and youkai even when Inuyasha gruffly refused to talk about it.

Then she wondered if she did, if it would be a good thing or bad. The brothers didn’t exactly find _calm_ in each others’ presence, she couldn’t think that it would be any different with Inuyasha’s scent on her . . . though, compared to Naraku’s miasma and Naraku _himself_, which had to be everywhere here. . . Maybe?

Kagome shook her head slightly, sniffling as she rubbed her face. She startled as a soft whine interrupted the low rumble she hadn’t even realised she had adjusted to and begun to tune out. She dropped her hand and stared at Sesshoumaru.

He was straining against the chains once more, head tilted with what looked like a . . . curious sort of attitude. His eyes swept over her and his nose twitched as he whined again.

“Sesshoumaru-sama?” Kagome wasn’t sure what was behind the shift in his actions. He was definitely still not himself . . . but he didn’t look distressed, either.

Kagome considered briefly what might be capable of upsetting or frightening Sesshoumaru, even - perhaps especially - in this mindlessly feral state and _shuddered_.

Though . . . ‘mindless’ didn’t feel quite fair, she thought, inching closer and eyeing Sesshoumaru. “You’re not yourself, but you’re not all gone either, are you?” she asked him quietly, rhetorical.

Sesshoumaru made an odd little drawn out sound in response, not quite a croon, and Kagome almost mirrored it before she caught herself. She swallowed. Sesshoumaru’s gaze almost sharpened, his shoulders slanting down as he leaned his head forwards a little further, nose twitching again.

Kagome tried to smile at him, though she wasn’t sure if he’d appreciate it even in his normal state. Inuyasha’s feral side understood human expressions, though, so hopefully he would at least read her correctly.

He remained where he was, his own expression not changing, and Kagome shifted a little, her cold legs stiff and aching from the stone beneath her. And the last days, really. Being squashed and kidnapped, dragged up a mountain, then chained up and battered had left her sore to begin with.

Suddenly chains rattled . . . though Sesshoumaru hadn’t moved. Kagome’s heart raced as her eyes darted to the long chains binding Sesshoumaru to the far wall by wrist and ankles. They were no longer drawn taut between him and the wall, but instead lay lax across the floor.

Kagome swallowed, quickly following the length all the way back to Sesshoumaru and up to his face and-

Kagome let out a sharp cry, tumbling backwards and flinching, arms outstretched helplessly before her as she felt the hollow tug of reaching for her ki and finding nothing there to use and squeezed her eyes shut. Fiery points of pain flared in her thigh and she whimpered, trembling, but. . .

But there was nothing worse, and her leg _hurt_, but . . . not that much worse than when Shippou had a nightmare in her arms and turned his little claws and fangs on her in his sleep, or Inuyasha shoved her away from himself in a sullen or distressed mood. She swallowed, whimpering, and then _stopped breathing_ as she felt warmth against her _neck_, and then a puff of air. Sesshoumaru made a rough, rumbling, whining noise, and warm silk fell across her face.

She opened her eyes to a world of white, Sesshoumaru’s hair falling across her face and hiding her eyes. Sesshoumaru’s face was close against her neck and Kagome trembled, almost forgetting until she shuddered a little too hard, twisting a little, that Sesshoumaru’s _claws_ were in her thigh. She swallowed back a cry of pain as the claws dragged at her flesh, and suddenly Sesshoumaru was gone from over her, his warmth and his breath disappearing between two fluttery-quick beats of her heart.

Kagome gasped, shaking, but pushed herself up again, eyes wide. Sesshoumaru was crouched just within her reach, crimson eyes fixed on her, head cocked. His hair spilled over her calves as she moved and he leaned a little closer as though in response.

Kagome froze, but he didn’t so much as reach towards her. She cautiously dragged her gaze away from him to look down at herself and the bloody punctures high on her thigh, finding them just lower than the hem of her skirt. They were dripping blood down her thigh and they _hurt_ but . . . they weren’t that bad, either. She glanced at Sesshoumaru’s hand and saw her blood smeared on his claws.

“So, little miko, have you learned your lesson? Or perhaps you have-”

Sesshoumaru _snarled_, so loud as it built that he drowned out Naraku’s words. He moved, a blinding flash of silver that slammed to the new limit of the chains. It kept him short of where Naraku stood in a doorway that hadn’t been there before, several lesser youkai gathered around him.

Naraku didn’t move, but his eyes were fixed on Sesshoumaru, narrowed and wary. He drew back just enough to fight harder at the chains holding him, and Kagome wasn’t . . . entirely sure she hadn’t just seen the manacle around his wrist beginning to give way.

Kagome hauled herself laboriously to her feet, refusing to show how stiff and achy she was, or how _frightened_. She glared at Naraku around Sesshoumaru’s lean bulk, fingers curled in against her palms so fiercely they stung from her nails.

“You seem remarkably well, miko.” Naraku said, with a stomach-turning little laugh. “You _are_ slipping, _inu-sama_, aren’t you?” He flung out a hand and Kagome flinched, uncertain what he might do, and then jumped as his hand and part of his forearm dropped to the stone floor with a movement so fast that Kagome could only track it by the way Sesshoumaru’s hair and kimono floated back into place afterwards.

Naraku cursed and gestured with the stump of his arm, which was already writhing with a tentacle reshaping his arm and hand. The youkai with him surged forwards, an blurred impression of red eyes and slavering jaws and mismatched claws and talons.

Kagome drew in on herself, taking a step closer to Sesshoumaru before she had quite realised what she was doing. He glanced at her, one blood-bright eye catching hers through a fall of snowy silver, and Kagome swallowed anxiously.

His attention shifted as one of the youkai came close, and it fell to the dungeon floor in pieces half a breath later. Kagome yelped and darted away from another as it circled her, winding up nearly against Sesshoumaru’s back. She winced and glanced at him warily, but he only moved to knock back another youkai with an easy swipe of his hand.

As the third youkai was slashed to bloody pieces Kagome realised belatedly that Sesshoumaru was using nothing _but_ his claws - no acid, no youki whip, no youki at all - and then- _Her_ ki was bound, of course Sesshoumaru’s youki would be also . . . and if he could have, surely he would already have put it to use, perhaps even to _break free_.

Kagome swallowed hard and pressed herself against Sesshoumaru’s back as she tried to escape the snatching teeth and talons of a sinuous one-eyed youkai whose grasping coils kept sliding nearer, trying to circle her. Sesshoumaru snarled and for a moment Kagome thought she was going to join the youkai in dying on his claws.

The sinuous youkai _screamed_ as Sesshoumaru’s claws sank into its throat, and it lashed, its tail whipping across Kagome’s upper arm. Just before it would have struck her again, Sesshoumaru shifted and it caught him across the chest instead . . . and then the youkai gurgled on another shriek and went limp. Sesshoumaru flicked his fingers and sent its body tumbling into another of the circling youkai prowling nearer around them, and Kagome clung to his kimono as a wave of dizziness swept over her from her knotting stomach.

Kagome heard taunting words and skin-crawling chuckles, but couldn’t make out anything beyond the tone, the shape of the sounds curling unpleasantly around her. Her heart beat faster, an ache in her chest as she swallowed back a scream and lurched away from another encroaching youkai, wishing she could be more use, _any_ use, in a battle like this, but with her ki-

Kagome cried out brokenly as her world bloomed with shimmering pink, her hands flaring with heat in a painful flare. She vaguely heard yowling screeches, and a fraction of her mind spiked with alarm - she was all but pressed against Sesshoumaru, who was without even control of his own youki - and then she felt silk slipping through her fingers and the world spun and faded into blackness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kagome moaned near-soundlessly as she moved unwarily, still half-asleep and wishing only to sink back into it. She ached all over . . . but it was a distant sort of ache, and she was _warm_. Her foggy mind provided that both of these were new and pleasant changes, and she hummed, determined to appreciate them. She curled carefully tighter into the fluffy warmth she had cuddled to her chest, nestling her face in it.

A faint pulse of alarm rippled through her as in her head as a small version of herself waved her arms and pointed out that she was definitely _not_ snuggling Shippou.

Kagome grumbled at the little voice and settled determinedly back to return to sleep. Unfortunately the brief inner disagreement had bestirred Kagome enough that she was starting to remember that she had been. . . Naraku. She remembered Naraku and his dungeon and-

There was someone _breathing_ against her back, a slow shift of a warm body, and Kagome’s eyes snapped open. She realised the fluffy thing she was cuddling was Sesshoumaru’s fur wrap, and swallowed a whine as she turned over cautiously.

. . .Sesshoumaru _asleep_ was somehow . . . strange, she thought faintly.

It was reassuring . . . mostly . . . to see that his face was back to the elegant, sharp lines she was used to, no longer on the verge of bursting into a muzzle, and his fangs no longer pushed past his thin lips.

The feral creature he had been was surely gone and he was back to his normal self, Kagome thought. Although that was good, Kagome had been . . . growing accustomed to the other version of him, and he hadn’t hurt her, not much. She wasn’t sure if the _usual_ Sesshoumaru would feel the same way. Especially because, she suddenly remembered, wincing, her powers had flared - the last thing she remembered was the pain of them breaking free in her chest and the world lost in their shimmering pink - and she had probably burned him.

Kagome gasped sharply as Sesshoumaru’s eyes opened and fixed on her. They were molten gold once more, which _was_ good . . . but maybe not reassuring.

“Ah- Sesshoumaru-sama! I- _Sorry._” Kagome said weakly.

“All is well. Rest.” Sesshoumaru said, voice low and smooth. Kagome could _feel_ the soft rumble of it in his chest and she made a little squeaking sound. Sesshoumaru’s golden eyes glinted, his mouth curling ever so slightly. “I shall deliver you back to your pack when you have recovered.”

Kagome would have protested, but trying to sit up brought a sudden reminder that she must have used a lot of energy in that uncontrolled ki burst, and she faltered and tipped back again.

Before she could hit the ground Sesshoumaru’s hand splayed over her back, gently easing her down. The fur was soft beneath her head, and Sesshoumaru was warm beside her and apparently not feeling murderous today, and Kagome was _exhausted_ and hurt all over.

She closed her eyes and let sleep pull her down again, only distantly aware of the shift of the lean body beside her as her head tipped forwards and came to rest against Sesshoumaru’s chest.

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi and chat with me while I write on [Discord](https://discord.gg/U2TWCu5), or look me up on [Dreamwidth](https://kalira.dreamwidth.org), [Pillowfort](https://www.pillowfort.io/Kalira), or [Tumblr](http://kalira9.tumblr.com/)!


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